


zero to my own hero

by prismvtic



Series: let the light in (5h prism songfics) [1]
Category: Fifth Harmony (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bullying, Denial of Feelings, F/F, Songfic, also platonic camren is adorable that is all, lauren goes from nerd to badass mf real quick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2017-12-05
Packaged: 2019-02-11 03:20:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12926226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prismvtic/pseuds/prismvtic
Summary: "I got the eye of the tiger, a fighterDancing through the fire'Cause I am a champion, and you're gonna hear me roar."Lauren's sick of obnoxious bully Dinah Jane Hansen giving her a hard time.





	zero to my own hero

**Author's Note:**

> welcome to the beginning of a long journey, the first of sixteen songfics from katy perry's (iconic) album PRISM. all possible pairings will be explored with some being doubled up.
> 
> also fun game for the entire series: take a shot every time i reference a lyric the fic is based on.

One more period. Lauren could do this. Mondays were the worst days of the week because it meant that it was just the beginning of the week and Lauren had to deal with four more days of the shittiest place on Earth. The past two years of her high school career were the absolute worst, mostly because of a certain girl a year younger than her made her life a living hell. Any freshman would know to never ever bother anyone older than them if they wanted to survive in the high school jungle.

Apparently Dinah Jane Hansen didn’t care, because she’s had it out for Lauren Jauregui ever since Lauren accidentally bumped into her in the hallway two years ago.

The concept of petty grudges were supposed to be left back in junior high along with a bunch of other stupid social norms. Lauren was tired of constantly being harassed, pushed, and ridiculed by a junior.

Ms. Kramer finished her rather dull lecture on divergent plate boundaries and assigned the pre-lab. Normani Kordei, Lauren’s best friend, glanced in her direction and grinned widely. Normani and Lauren always worked together. Actually, it was more Lauren did all the work while Normani copied her answers, but no one had to know that. She scooted closer to her and nudged her side, causing Lauren to burst out giggling.

That caught the attention of Dinah and her two friends, Camila Cabello and Ally Brooke. Lauren was actually friends with Ally and Normani had a huge crush on her so she had nothing against her. Camila was a different story. It wasn’t that she didn’t do anything wrong, but she didn’t do anything right. Camila never stopped Dinah from bullying from her, but she never encouraged it either.

“What’s so funny, Lauser?” Dinah shouted from the other side of the room. “Did Normani just try to finger you under the table and her hand turned out to be cold?”

“Hansen!” Ms. Kramer warned, glaring at the blonde.

Dinah just smirked. “What? Don’t we all want to know what the freaky lesbians are up to?”

“Hm,” Normani hummed. “Would you like to watch Dinah? Or maybe you’d like to join in since you’re so interested in what Laur and I are up to.”

Ally let out a sound that was a cross between a scream and a gasp. She slumped her head on the table and covered her ears. Camila moved to comfort her.

Dinah looked at a loss for words and put her hands on her hips. “See what you did? You killed the shortstack.”  
“I’m very much alive, Dinah Jane,” Ally grumbled against the table.

Lauren and Normani exchanged confused glances and then shrugged, going back to work. Lauren compared the charts and the maps of the plate boundaries and wrote the answers to the questions. Normani would look over her shoulder on occasion and then copy down the answers, and unbeknownst to Lauren, send Dinah and her friends nasty glares.

A wad of paper hit Lauren on the head. She gritted her teeth and turned around to find Dinah looking over at her with a wide smirk. Lauren rolled her eyes and returned to her work. She wasn’t going to let Dinah get the satisfaction that she was even bothered by her in the first place.

“Yo, what did you put for seven? I can’t read what you scribbled,” Normani whispered, tapping Lauren’s shoulder harshly.

“Nazca plate,” Lauren answered loudly. She pointed it on the map in the textbook. “Right there? If you actually paid attention and looked, maybe you would see more and you wouldn’t need my help.”

Normani chuckled. “You know I’m way better at math.”

Lauren flashed her a grin as she wrote down the answer to question nine. “And thank the Lord for that, otherwise I’d have to ask one of the other weirdos in my class.”

“Nerd,” Dinah jeered. Lauren exhaled sharply and clenched her fists. But there was nothing she could do, Lauren wasn’t someone who liked to pick fights. She was simple, boring, the true apathetic nerd. They called her the lesbian Jughead Jones, or Ariana Grande did, because she happened to be the biggest fan of _Riverdale_ in the entire school.

Lauren bit her tongue and held her breath.

“Just ignore her,” Normani said encouragement, knowing that it would be best if she just sat there quietly.

But instead of ignoring Dinah, she ignored Normani. She turned around to face Dinah. “You know what? I am a nerd,” Lauren agreed. “Thank you for pointing that out, Hansen, because it clearly needed to be said.”

“Don’t get smart with me, Jauregui.”

“Um hello? I am smart, that’s the only thing I’m _good_ at. Or should I dumb it down so you can understand it-”

“Why you little-”

Ms. Kramer banged her fist on the table. “Hansen, Jauregui, cut it out now!”

Lauren jumped up a bit and flushed. “Sorry Ms. K, it won’t happen again,” she rushed out, turning back to her work.

But she swore she could have heard Dinah whisper “kiss-ass” under her breath. Normani patted her back comfortingly as Lauren began to shake in anger. Why couldn’t Dinah just leave her alone? It wasn’t that hard to pretend Lauren didn’t exist because she rarely made her presence known to others. She lived for being in the background. While Dinah was on the drill team and always in the spotlight, Lauren was part of the school’s literary magazine. While Dinah had lots and lots of friends, Lauren only spoke to Normani and sometimes Ally.

Lauren finished her work and slid her paper over to Normani so she could copy it fully. “Only four more days,” she muttered. “Only four more days.”

* * *

"She’s so full of herself,” Normani complained to Lauren as they walked down the hallway together. “Like I appreciate a girl with self-confidence, but damn, she needs a reality check or someone to put her in her place.”

Lauren looked behind her, just incase Dinah or her entourage was behind them. Nope, only Ariana Grande and her two friends. Ariana was the mean girl of senior year, but she mostly picked on other people instead of Lauren and Normani.

“She’s just crazy insecure,” Lauren agreed. “She holds people down so she can feel better about herself.”

Normani nodded. “I still wish you could let me punch her in the face.”

“Violence doesn’t solve anything, Mani.”

Her friend stuck her tongue out at her and moved out of the way so Lauren could get to her locker. Lauren hummed softly as she began to open the combination lock. She noticed that Normani was staring off into the distance. She turned her head to see what Normani was looking back. Ally Brooke, she wasn’t surprised to see her best friend practically drool over her. Ally was cute, very friendly, and president of the student council. Normani had a thing for student politicians. Lauren found it absolutely adorable.

She pulled her down coat out of the locker. “Mani, babe, your gay is showing.”

Normani bit down on her lip. “Isn’t she just so adorable?” Lauren watched as Ally burst out into giggles at something the quarterback Troy Ogletree said. “Too bad she’s so desperate to hop on Ogletree’s dick.”

“Ally’s gay,” Lauren said. “She literally founded the GSA for herself and Camila to be honest.”

Normani’s face lit up with joy. “Oh, that’s great news! Maybe I do have a chance after all-”

She was interrupted when she noticed a familiar figure slam Lauren into her locker. Lauren winced and cursed loudly, but Dinah had a strong grip on her. Her eyes widened in fear and she expected Dinah to start punching her but instead she pinned her against the wall and held her face close to her. “You thought what you did in class was funny, Jauregui? Embarrassing me in front of the teacher?”

“Not on purpose,” Lauren replied shakily. Dinah looked absolutely terrifying.

Dinah laughed bitterly. “That isn’t how things work. You’re supposed to sit there quietly and agree politely and let me tell you how much of a loser you are. I don’t like it when people tell me otherwise or defy me.”

“Control freak, much?” Lauren spat.

Dinah moved her face to closer to her. For a split second, Lauren thought Dinah was going to kiss her. No, that was absurd. Dinah was straight and she didn’t want anything to do with her like that. Why would she even want Dinah to kiss her anyways? She was a bully and cold-hearted. Plus Lauren wasn’t even attracted to her in the first place.

Dinah’s gaze momentarily flickered to her lips. Lauren’s breath hitched.

Camila Cabello saved the day. “Cheechee, what are you doing?” She placed her hands on her hips as Dinah pulled away looking at her best friend startled.

“Nothing, I wasn’t doing anything, you know Lauren was being a bitch,” she rushed out.

Camila raised a brow. “Um, it looked like you were being the bitch, just saying.”

Dinah’s nostrils flared. “Whatever.” She stepped further away from the group and stalked off in defeat. Lauren had to bite down hard on her lip to prevent herself from grinning.

“We owe you, Cabello,” Normani said with a small smile.

“Don’t mention it.” Camila shrugged. She looked over at Lauren and gave her an assuring smile. “Are you okay, Lauren?”

Lauren chuckled dryly. “Never been better.” She recoiled a bit when Camila raised a brow at her. “It’s just a regular day, Dinah Jane is treating me like shit. Nothing new.”

“Why do you let her walk all over you though? You know, you could easily stand up to her. She’s a bit of a softie once you get to know her.”

Lauren paused, considering her words. She really could stand up to Dinah and tell her to stop, but at the same time she was too scared to. “I guess I forgot I had a choice.” She frowned. “I thought things were set in stone. Dinah would hate me and terrorize me for the rest of my high school career.”

Camila laughed and shook her head. “I thought you were supposed to be smart, you’re really just as dense as Dinah.”

She glared at Camila. “Shut up, Camila.”

“Ooh make me.”

Normani cleared her throat, catching the attention of both girls. “This is getting _way_ too flirty for my liking. I refuse to be a fucking third wheel.”

Lauren shot Normani a glare while Camila just inhaled sharply. “Oh no, my girlfriend would scalp me alive if she thought I was flirting with another chick. She’s tiny but she is not afraid to stab a bitch.”

“Let me guess, Ariana?” Lauren asked knowingly.

Camila grinned. “Yup, I love my crazy cheerleader to death though.”

The three of them laughed. Camila and Ariana seemed like a good pairing. Camila probably kept Ariana’s craziness at bay while Ariana would help Camila come out of her shell. She shipped it hardcore.

“Say, I know just the thing to do to help get Dinah off Lauren’s back.” Lauren and Normani raised their eyebrows expectantly. “How ‘bout I come over and Normani and I can give Lauren a makeover?”

Lauren swore loudly, causing Camila to smirk. “Are you for real?”

“Yup, we can turn you from Jughead Jones to fucking Toni Topaz.” Normani looked at her in confusion. Camila caught on right away. “Sorry, it’s a _Riverdale_ reference. My girl makes me watch it with her.”

Normani nodded her head. “Alrighty, let’s do it.”

* * *

Lauren concluded that Camila Cabello was actually the coolest girl in the entire school and deserved a lot more popularity than she already had. The way she belted the lyrics to “Bodak Yellow” like an opera singer was downright admirable and also crazy adorable, in a non-gay way. She even taught Normani a dance to a Fergie song that Lauren found to be freaking hilarious.

The makeover session was turning out to be less of an actual makeover session and a more of Camila hanging out with Normani and Lauren and getting to know them better. All that Camila knew about Lauren and Normani were the many negative things that Dinah said about them behind their back. She informed them that she never believed them and had a theory about why Dinah would even say or think those things in the first place; however, she refused to allow Normani and Lauren to indulge in that information.

They sat on Lauren’s bed as “Our Song” played in the background. Normally Lauren would complain because Taylor Swift was being played in her safe place, but Camila refused to let alone change the song. Normani was working on her College Algebra and Trig and Lauren flipped through her copy of _Candide_ that she was reading for French.

Camila swung her legs off the bed. “I thought we were going to give Lolo a makeover?” Lauren winced at the nickname.

“First of all, don’t call me Lolo. Second of all, what is there really to fix about me? I’m flawless,” Lauren said.

“I see one flaw. It’s your ego, and it’s bigger than your large Cuban ass,” Normani quipped as she scribbled down her answer. Lauren scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. Camila threw a pillow at Normani’s head.

“Bye bye pillow,” Lauren mumbled.

Normani lifted her head up and turned to look at Camila.”I know you didn’t just throw a pillow at my head.”

“I did though,” Camila hollered.

“Go pick it up!”

Camila pouted and reached down to pick up Lauren’s pillow. She placed it delicately on Normani’s lap and then grabbed a paper bag that she picked up from her house. She placed it on the bed and began rummaging through it.

“The only way you’ll become a queen is by wearing leather jackets.” Camila pulled three jackets out of the bag. Two were black while the other one was navy blue. Lauren loved those colors. She could already picture herself wearing them and looking like a total badass. If it weren’t for her mother, she would have totally started sporting those outfits and totally look like a rocker chick lesbian. Her mother wanted Lauren to be perfect and her being gay already ruined her perfect image in the first place. So much for that.

Lauren picked one of them up and admired them. “These are beautiful. Where did you get them, Camila?”

“Ariana,” Camila replied. “She has a whole collection that she wants to wear. Once she becomes a famous singer, she’ll start wearing them.”

“I pictured Ariana to have more of a soft vibe,” Normani remarked. “Her first album would be very 1950’s esque lyrics with upbeat dance bops.”

Camila’s eyes widened. She clapped her hands excitedly. “You’re right though, holy shit! Normani Kordei, you are a genius.”

“So I’ve been told.”

Lauren rolled her eyes at the pair and slipped the leather jacket on. It felt nice, inviting, like a warm safety blanket. Okay, that comparison was a little strange. But with this leather jacket on, Lauren felt invincible.

She stepped towards the full body mirror and smiled. “So, how do I look?”

Camila and Normani looked up. Through the mirror she could see Normani and Camila’s smile of approval.

“Now you’ll float like a butterfly,” Camila commented.

“Stinging like a bee, you’ll earn your stripes,” Normani added.

Lauren laughed softly, turning around to look around at the two of them. “Nice reference to Muhammad Ali.”

Camila furrowed her brows. “Did he really say that? I just thought that it was such an edgy Tumblr quote.” Normani snorted, bowing her head. “I’m serious. I found it on that site.”

Lauren turned her body around, admiring the jacket even more. But something was missing about it. It seemed completely out of place with her white blouse and black pencil skirt. She looked like a cute badass rather than a hardcore badass.

“What else do you think I need?” Lauren asked. “I feel like it’s only a minor improvement.”

“Animal print,” Normani blurted out.

Lauren whipped her head around to look at her in disbelief. Animal print was something Normani would wear. Hell, even Dinah would wear it. But Lauren? She felt like she’d look like a fool.

“You’re joking.”

“I’m not.”

“Tiger stripes or cheetah dots?” Camila asked, holding up two tank tops with those patterns. They looked huge, like a size or two larger than Lauren.

She squinted. “Camila, those look way too big for me.”

Camila chuckled. “Yeah I know, they’re Dinah’s.”

Lauren’s eyes bugged out and she quickly covered her mouth to prevent herself from letting out an embarrassingly loud laugh.

“Dinah was okay with you taking her shit?” Normani looked at her incredulously.

“Nah,” she replied, tossing the tank tops to Lauren. “She doesn’t even know that I have them.”

Normani burst out laughing.

Lauren huffed. “Geez, now Dinah’s going to kill me just as I come back looking like a boss ass bitch.”

Camila sent her a grin and shook her head. “Not to worry Lauren, I won’t let her do anything.” She pursed her lips. “Besides, I have a good feeling that she won’t want to give you a Poly beatdown after this.”

* * *

Lauren figured that she would get people staring at her the next day, but she didn’t expect what felt like everybody to be staring at her. She wore black leggings, the oversized tiger print tank top, and one of the black leather jackets. She wasn’t sure that she liked all of the attention on her. Normani was waiting for her when she reached her locker. Her friend smiled at her.

“Nice look, Jauregui, you look ready for battle,” Normani commented with a smirk.

Lauren just rolled her eyes at her. “Thanks.” She opened her locker and pulled out her English Lit composition book out. One of the straps on her tanktop began to slip off so she quickly moved to fix it. “I think I’m breaking like ten dress code rules right now.”

Normani shrugged her shoulders. “At least you’re not wearing hat or distracting the world with your ‘bare shoulders.’”

Lauren chuckled. “If it weren’t for the jacket, that would be the case. Literally everyone can see my bra.”

“You look fine, Laur,” Normani insisted. Lauren gave her a small smile and closed her locker.

And speak of the Devil, there came Dinah with Camila and Ariana in tow. Lauren inhaled sharply and expected the worst. Dinah looked beyond pissed, even more than she did the day before. Lauren couldn’t help but smirk widely. This was how exactly Lauren hoped that Dinah would react.

She and her entourage stopped right in front of Lauren and Normani. Dinah fumed. “What the hell are you wearing, Jauregui?”

Lauren gave her a pointed look. “Clothes, what does it look like?”

“Not just any clothes,” Dinah seethed, jabbing her finger at Lauren’s chest. “Different clothes. Wait, is that my tank top? How did you even get it?”  
“It was a gift from a friend.” Lauren gestured towards Camila.

Dinah followed where Lauren was pointing and gritted her teeth. “Walz, what the hell? Why did you give Lauren my clothes?” Camila didn’t say anything, only shrugged her shoulders. “You made friends with the enemy?”

Camila scoffed. “She isn’t my enemy, she’s yours. Plus Lauren is actually really cool.”

“Thanks Camz,” Lauren said with a small smile.

Dinah narrowed her eyes. “Camz? Y’all got pet names now? Jauregui, you better not be seducing my best friend.”

“Yeah, she better not,” Ariana cut in, squeezing Camila’s hand tightly. “She’s mine and she knows it. Right, Mila?”

Lauren had to laugh. Ariana truly was a possessive bitch. Camila kissed her cheek in an attempt to make up for it while Ariana rolled her eyes. It reminded Lauren of an extra-controlling girlfriend, which Ariana was for sure.

Lauren looked over at Normani, who had been silent the entire exchange. Their gaze met and Normani just shrugged her shoulders. “Well, I’m off to class. Catch you later Lauren,” Normani excused herself and stepped away. Lauren took that as an opportunity to get out of there, not wanting to deal with Dinah anymore. She sauntered down the hall, continuing to ignore the blatant stares and the sinking feeling that she was being followed. But technically _everyone_ could be following her because in the massive hallways it was easy to get caught behind slow people going in the same direction as her. Not that Lauren thought she was a slow walker or anything.

She rounded the corner of the hallway and decided to make a quick pitstop in the bathroom. Lauren swung the door open and checked to see if anyone was in there. Thankfully, no one wasn’t. She made her to the mirror and brushed a bit of her stray locks behind her ear. Maybe she shouldn’t have agreed to this image change in the first place and she wondered why she even thought it would work in the first place. The only magical transformations that came from makeovers happened in fairy tales. Lauren’s life was far from a fairy tale.

As she continued to fix her hair, she heard the door swing open. She figured it was just another irrelevant student going to the bathroom. Boy, was she wrong. Within seconds after the door closed, Lauren felt hands on her hips. She flinched and yelped, squirming to try and break free from their grasp, but the person was too strong.

“Don’t try and fight it Lauren,” Dinah hissed. That was the first time she heard Dinah use her first name in a long time. She was genuinely surprised by that and she liked it too.

Lauren looked in the mirror to find Dinah standing behind her, so close that her front was pressed into Lauren’s backside. She shuddered at the contact.

“Are you going to kill me or something?” Lauren breathed out. “Cause I’m about two seconds from kicking your ass.”

Dinah laughed. “You think that just because you can put some new clothes on and call yourself some kind of tigress that you’ll be freed from me?” She brought her lips near Lauren’s neck, barely ghosting her skin.

Lauren had to hold back a whine and clench her legs together. Dinah was driving her crazy. “Yes, no, I don’t fucking know.” She exhaled shakily. “All I know is that I’ve had enough.”

“But I like our little game,” Dinah teased. Her voice vibrated against Lauren’s pale neck. “Because when you’re so worked up and angry, it drives me so crazy. And then you stop fighting it and I love having all that control over you.”

She brought her lips to the base of Lauren’s neck and nipped the skin lightly. Lauren jerked backwards, but Dinah caught her.

“Dinah…” Lauren gasped. “You’re supposed to hate me. You always have.”

Lauren couldn’t see Dinah’s lips but she could tell that she was smirking. “How do you know that?”

She didn’t respond, only averted her gaze from Dinah and stared hard at the bathroom counter. Dinah spun her around and cupped her cheek, forcing Lauren to look at her. When Lauren’s eyes met Dinah’s she almost gasped at the sight. Dinah had a hungry look. Lauren wasn’t sure what she felt about it.

But before Lauren could do anything, Dinah brought their lips together. It was slow at first, as if Dinah was trying to figure out what kissing Lauren felt like or even questioning herself for doing this. On the other hand, Lauren was too shocked to even kiss back at first. All she could think about was the electricity being shot with her and how soft Dinah’s lips were, unlike her rough personality. Eventually Lauren got a hold of herself and started kissing back, running her hands through Dinah’s blonde tresses.

Dinah took that as a cue to deepen the kiss and pick up the pace. Lauren felt like she couldn’t breathe. It felt like Dinah sucked the breath out of her. She leaned back against the counter and shuddered when the tall girl’s tongue began to run across her lips, begging for entrance. Lauren wouldn’t let her have it. This was payback for all the crap that Dinah put her through.

Dinah was getting impatient and annoyed. She continued to try and slip her tongue in but Lauren refused to let her. Her hands began to wander down Lauren’s body until they rested on her behind. With a soft squeeze, Lauren threw her head back and moaned loudly. Dinah was quick to reconnect their lips and then shove her tongue in Lauren’s mouth. Her tongue fought Dinah’s for dominance. But whenever she tried to slip hers in Dinah’s mouth, Dinah would squeeze her ass harshly, causing her to moan and squirm.

Dinah hooked her arms under Lauren’s thighs and hoisted her up onto the counter. The green-eyed girl spread her legs so Dinah could stand in between them. She broke their kiss abruptly and gasped for breath. Lauren was sure she probably looked like a mess with a flushed face and bruised lips. Dinah attached her lips to Lauren’s neck and sucked harshly, causing her to grip the counter harshly.

“Dinah, stop, you’re gonna leave a mark,” Lauren whined.

Dinah growled, using her hands to pull Lauren’s jacket off of her. “Don’t tell me what to do, Jauregui, you’re mine to mark.” She pressed kisses down on her neck and nipped at her skin while Lauren whimpered and cursed quietly.

That’s when Lauren decided that she didn’t mind being “mine to mark”, whatever that meant to Dinah.

* * *

The next week went like this: Dinah and Lauren would continue to shoot insults at each other during the school day, and then found themselves lost in each other for hours after school. Wednesday: Dinah said that Lauren had a mediocre ass, and then she spent the afternoon worshipping it with her consistent groping in Lauren’s bedroom. Thursday: Dinah said that she was more likely to get to second base than she was. They both got to second base that evening. Friday: Dinah called her plain and ugly, and then told her later that she was the most beautiful girl in the entire school. It was a dangerous game that they were playing, but Lauren loved every second of it.

It was Saturday morning when Lauren found herself in Dinah’s room and kissing the Tongan fiercely. She was straddling her on the bed while Dinah leaned back against the pillows. It wasn’t an unfamiliar position, but this time it felt different.

Dinah tugged at her shirt slowly. “Take it off,” she ordered, breaking the kiss. Lauren smiled and slipped her shirt off of her and watched as Dinah stared at her bra-cladded chest. She flushed when Dinah licked her lips. “Your breasts are so amazing,” Dinah breathed out. “I just wanna bury my fucking face in them and live there.”

Lauren chuckled softly, bringing her face in close to Dinah’s. “You said they looked like ugly pears last week.”

Dinah rolled her eyes, cupping her cheeks. “I don’t mean any of it, Laur.” She brought their lips together briefly. “Every mean thing I ever said to you wasn’t true.”

Her eyes widened and she pushed herself off of Dinah. “Then why did you say them Dinah? This could have all been avoided if you actually admitted to liking me before.”

Dinah pursed her lips. “Woah, woah, babe. I never said I liked you.” Lauren hid her disappointment. “I mean, the only thing we are are enemies with benefits, or frenemies with benefits. Just because we have hot bodies and appreciate them doesn’t mean we’re gonna date.” She patted the spot on her lap. “Now come back here so I can play with your fucking breasts.”

Lauren considered her for a moment, but shook her head. “I can’t, I uh, I just remembered I have to call Normani and ask her something. We have plans later today,” she lied easily.

Dinah furrowed her brows. “Plans? You told me you were free all day to enjoy each other’s company. Plus I said I’d make you dinner.”

She almost forgot about that. The whole idea of Dinah making her dinner excited her because she thought things had turned around for the best. Lauren thought a potential romance was blossoming between them, but Dinah gave her the cold shoulder and all she wanted to do was curl up on a ball and cry.

“Oh.” Lauren scratched her head, reaching for her shirt. “I forgot to tell you.”

Dinah frowned and nodded.

“I promise I’ll be right back after this phone call, okay?” Lauren sent her a small smile.

Dinah scooted forward, grabbing Lauren’s arm. “Give me a kiss first.”

Lauren just shook her head and walked off. She didn’t feel like kissing Dinah when she was sure it didn’t mean anything. She slipped her shirt back on and went into the bathroom. Scrolling through her phone, she bit her lip and clicked on Normani’s contact name. Lauren held the phone up to her ear, Her phone rang for a few seconds before Normani finally picked up.

 _“Hello?”_ Okay, that certainly wasn’t Normani’s voice.

“Normani?” Lauren asked timidly.

_“Oh no, this is Ally. Normani’s across the room. I can get her if you want.”_

Lauren gasped suddenly. “Ally? As in Ally Brooke?”

She heard the girl named Ally chuckle on the other line. _“The one and only. Oh shoot, here comes Norman-”_

 _“Hello!?”_ Normani’s voice boomed into the microphone. Lauren let out a sigh of relief.

“Mani, hey, are you super busy with Ally right now?”

_“How did you know I was with Ally?”_

Lauren laughed quietly. “She told me that you were.”

Normani paused for a split second. _“Well, you caught me. Yes, I’m hanging out with Ally. Actually we’re on a date-”_ Lauren’s stomach fell. There went her escape from Dinah’s house.

“Really!?” Lauren pretended to be super excited. “That’s amazing Mani, I’ll leave you guys to it. I’ll go ask someone else to pick me up from Dinah’s.”

Lauren heard Normani gasp loudly. _“Wait, why are you at Dinah’s? You hate each other! Are you okay? Did she kidnap you?”_

“No Mani, I’m fine.”

_“Then why are you over at Dinah’s-”_

“Because we’ve been making out on the down low for a few days,” Lauren rushed out. She pressed her ear against the bathroom door, just in case Dinah was out there listening to her. “And I...I might be catching feelings for her.”

Normani was silent for a few seconds causing Lauren to bite down on her lip. If Normani was about to blow up on her, she swore she would start crying.

 _“Oh Lauren.”_ Normani sighed. _“I know it must be hard.”_

“God, it is. She told me that she didn’t want anything to do with me except for my body. That fucking stung.”

_“Go home. I’ll meet you there once I’m done with Ally, okay?”_

Lauren nodded slowly. “Yeah, okay. See you.” She hung up the phone.

She pushed open the door to the bathroom. Not really to her surprise, Dinah was standing outside of the bathroom. Her face immediately lit up when she saw Lauren, causing her heart to speed up a little bit. The rational part of her told her to calm down because it meant absolutely nothing. She forced herself to smile at Dinah.

Dinah ran a hand through her hair. “So, what’s the deal? Are you staying?”

Lauren shook her head. Dinah’s face fell and she folded her hands together.

“Oh, okay. Well, I’ll miss you.”

Lauren chuckled. “I find that hard to believe, Dinah Jane.” She couldn’t stop herself from standing on her toes and pressing a kiss to her cheek. “I’ll see you around.” And with that, Lauren was off and out of Dinah’s house, doing her very best to hold back in her tears.

* * *

**Dinah:** are u free today?

Lauren stared down at the notification that lit up her phone and immediately felt bad. They had the week off because of spring break and she neglected to talk to Dinah or even go see her. Dinah texted her every single day, but she was spending her entire week with Normani and sometimes with Ally and Camila too. She was in bed at that moment, waiting for Normani, Ally, Camila, and Ariana to arrive so they could have a _Harry Potter_ movie marathon.

She picked up her phone and typed her response.

 **Lauren:** can’t. normani and i have plans.

Not even seconds later, Dinah replied.

 **Dinah:** ur always busy with normani u dating her or smthn?

 **Lauren:** no?

 **Dinah:** dont lie to me

 **Lauren:** i’m not lying lol why would you even care?

 **Dinah:** cos ur mine lauser

That confused Lauren. She narrowed her eyes and stared at her phone. She began typing a response before pausing it and erasing it. Lauren was ninety percent sure Dinah saw her type and then delete it.

Lauren ran a hand through her hair and flipped it to the side. Her phone vibrated and she glanced to look at her phone.

 **Dinah:** i saw u read that.

Lauren sighed loudly.

 **Lauren:** i’m not yours. you don’t even like me.

 **Dinah:** i dont have to like u for u to be mine

 **Lauren:** i refuse to be anyone’s if they don’t like me back.

She cursed loudly, realizing her mistake. But it was too late, Dinah already saw her text. She wanted to throw her phone across the room. The white dots stopped her from doing that.

 **Dinah:** u like me?

The doorbell rang, relieving Lauren of a possibly very stressful situation.

 **Lauren:** sorry gtg, mani just got here.

She shut her phone off and got off the bed. Her phone lit up immediately afterwards but she chose not to look at it and shoved it in the pocket of her jeans. Dinah would definitely end up spamming her and then killing her phone battery because she was a so-called “aggressive texter”.

Lauren made her way downstairs. She swung the door open to find her friends waiting for her. Normani had her arms around Ally while Camila and Ariana were holding hands. Lauren couldn’t help but find it amusing that she ended up being the fifth-wheel.

“Hi, come on in,” Lauren greeted with a wide smile. She stepped out of the way so her friends could step inside. Camila immediately threw her arms around Lauren briefly and then bounced over to the couch. Ariana gave her a short glare but then sent her a smile, letting Lauren know that she was joking. Ally hugged Lauren too, squeezing the crap out of her. Normani hugged her quite tightly last. The exchanges reminded Lauren of a family reunion event that occurred after a decade of not seeing each other.

Her friends did an excellent job of keeping her mind off of things with Dinah. From Camila’s jokes to Ariana’s and Normani’s sass, Lauren hadn’t laughed that hard in a long time. Plus Camila added an additional bit of fun to watching movies. She and Ariana would quote the movies word for word while Normani rolled her eyes at them.

Camila looked down at her phone. “Dinah has been ignoring my texts lately. When I try to make plans, she always says that she has plans with someone else.”

Normani rolled her eyes. “That sounds awfully familiar.” Normani was the only one who knew about Dinah texting Lauren consistently over spring break. “Considering that Dinah’s been texting Lauren all the damn time and Lauren’s been blowing her off by saying that she has plans with me, even though most of the time she doesn’t.”

Lauren’s head snapped around to glare at Normani. “Mani, what the hell?”

Ariana let out a “sheesh” and flipped her ponytail, smacking Camila right in the face.

Camila looked amused as she brushed Ariana’s hair out of her face. “No way, Dinah’s been texting you? Why?”

“We’vebeenmakingoutonthedownlow,” Lauren blurted out in one breath.

“What was that, Lo?”

“We’ve been making out,” Lauren repeated. “On the down low. And I’ve started catching feelings for her.”

Silence overcame the group. Shocked faces were evident on everyone except for Camila and Normani. Normani, because she already knew, and Lauren didn’t know why Camila didn’t look surprised. Best friend intuition, that had to be it.

Camila chuckled. “That explains a lot, Dinah only texts someone frequently if she really wants something from someone. She texted her previous fucks all the time.”

Lauren scowled. “So is that what I am to her? Just a fuck, I fucking knew it.”

Ally cleared her throat. “Why do you guys feel the need to swear so much? I know of a lot more colorful words that is better than the f-word. Like flings or previous orgasm delivery women…” Normani burst out laughing, causing Ally to flush.

Camila ignored Ally and Normani. “Anyways, that isn’t what I meant. All of Dinah’s past friends with benefits, Dinah’s was really into them but she was afraid. She admitted her feelings to someone and they stopped talking to her afterwards. She’s scared of being rejected. I don’t blame her though.”

“I told her I liked her on accident,” Lauren said. “Just before you guys got here actually. I bet she blew up her phone.” She pulled her phone out to check, her screen was filled with tons of notifications.

 **Dinah:** lauren

 **Dinah:** laurennnnnn

 **Dinah:** LAUREN

 **Dinah:** LAUREN JAUREGUI ANSWER ME NOW

 **Dinah:** u can’t just drop a bomb like that and then disappear wtf

 **Dinah:** alright fine have fun fucking normani

Lauren laughed bitterly, showing her friends her phone. “See? I’m into a control freak. I thought I was standing up for myself that Tuesday, but no, I’m letting her control me even more now.”

“Aw Laur,” Camila cooed.

Her phone lit up again.

 **Dinah:** i’m coming over

Lauren inhaled sharply, quickly covering her mouth in shock. Normani looked over at her in confusion. She pointed at her phone and made eye contact with her best friend. Normani reached over and took at it. Her eyes widened.

“Y’all, Dinah’s coming over,” Normani whisper-yelled as if she thought Dinah could hear them.

“You’re joking,” Ariana said. “I guess that’s the cue for Mila and I to leave.”

Camila narrowed her eyes at her girlfriend. “Wait, what!?” Ariana gave her a threatening look and Camila pouted in defeat. Ariana grabbed Camila’s hand and marched them to the door. Camila turned around to look at Lauren. “Bye, Lauren! Good luck with my best friend!”

Lauren only sent back a wave in return. She turned to Normani and Ally. “Are you guys gonna go too?”

Ally nodded her head while Normani shook hers. Lauren bit on her lip to hide her laugh. Normani and Ally were quite the interesting pair.

“We’re staying,” Normani insisted. “Because I’m gonna whoop Dinah’s ass if she tries to hurt you.”

“Well I’m gonna go back to my room, feel free to continue watching the movie and help yourself to snacks,” Lauren said, standing up. Ally waved to her and then climbed onto Normani’s laugh. Lauren grinned sweetly at her best friend and made her way back up the stairs.

Waiting for Dinah to show up was torture. Knowing Dinah, she would definitely make an extra entrance. Maybe she’d bang on the door loudly, throw rocks at the window, or kick down the front door. Lauren didn’t want the latter. She ran her hands through her hair in frustration. Was it too late to curl up into a ball and spontaneously combust? Because Lauren would really love it if she died at that moment. No more Dinah, no more relationship drama ever.

And that stupid AP practice test she had for English Lit? She wouldn’t even have to study for it. Dying on the spot sounded like the best idea ever in her mind.

A loud banging sound coming from her window interrupted her thoughts. Lauren jumped up and squeaked, something very unnatural to Lauren Jauregui. Her gaze moved to the source of the sound. Sure enough, Dinah Jane Hansen was leaning against the window while her feet were planted on the roof. She caught her gaze and knocked again, pointing towards the bottom of the window.

All Lauren could say was, “what the fuck, Dinah?” She rushed to open the window. After she lifted both the glass window and the screen, she stepped out of the way so Dinah could climb in. She looked very out of breath and Lauren noticed a few leaves sticking out of her blonde curls.

“Hey there, Lauren,” Dinah said breathlessly, closing the window behind her.

Lauren’s jaw clenched. “Dinah, why are you here?” She gestured to the window. “And climbing through the window, really? I wasn’t aware that this was fucking _Rapunzel_.”

“I didn’t ask you to let down your hair. I found my own way up,” Dinah corrected her. “Your gutter pipe is really slippery though. I fell on my ass way too many times.”

Lauren rolled her eyes. “It’s not meant for climbing, Dinah Jane.”

“It sure looked like it was,” she argued. “Plus, I was trying to be romantic and climb through your window. Also, I was afraid Normani would murder me if she saw me at the door.”

Lauren had to laugh at that.

She took a seat on her own bed. Dinah moved to sit next to her, much to Lauren’s dismay. She wasn’t so sure she wanted the Tongan next to her when she was somewhat upset with her. “But seriously, why are you here?”

Dinah raised a brow. “Isn’t it obvious, Lauser? I came here to see you because you weren’t answering my texts and didn’t want to hang out with me. So I took things into my own hands.”

“Dinah, we’re not friends,” Lauren stated. “And we aren’t more than friends either as you have made clear before. You’re the girl who has terrorized me since sophomore year and that I didn’t even know I was attracted to until a few days ago.”

“Are you dense? I like you too!” Dinah shouted. “In fact I’ve been practically in love with you since _my_ sophomore year. I’m just shit with my feelings cause I’m popular and you’re a total loser and-”

Lauren didn’t let her finish. She surged forward and connected their lips. Dinah’s eyes widened, too shocked to even kiss back at first, but Lauren pressed harder into her. Dinah quickly took control over the kiss, slinging her arms around Lauren and pulling her on top of her.

Lauren gasped, staring into beautiful brown eyes. She felt like she was in heaven. A week ago she hated her guts and now, days later, she was completely enamoured with Dinah. Sophomore year her would probably throw a fit. Senior year Lauren didn’t give a fuck.

Dinah broke the kiss, confusing Lauren. “I was just thinking.” Lauren wanted to make a sarcastic comment about Dinah actually thinking for once but she decided against it. “You went from zero to my own hero.”

“Explain,” Lauren drawled.

“I thought you were a nobody that deserved to be put in her place by someone _cool_ like me. And then I realized that I had feelings for you and I put those walls up and terrorized you even more. I hated myself for feeling that way because I knew it was _so_ wrong. You hated me and I loved, I mean, I love you.”

Lauren’s cheeks flushed brightly at her words and she brought their lips back together once again briefly. Dinah gave her a warm giddy smile.

“But then you came in looking like a total badass and you _saved_ me. Cause I finally got the balls to confront you when you got your new self-confidence. So yes Lauren, you are my damn hero.”

“Dinah Jane Hansen being cute and sappy, I never thought I’d live to see the day,” Lauren replied with a smirk.

Dinah narrowed her eyes. “Okay shut up, sassy pants. Don’t act like you don’t like it.”

Lauren let out a cute giggle, causing Dinah’s previously scrutinizing look to melt into an adoring stare. “You’re right, I love it.”

She pressed her lips to Lauren’s once more, an action that Lauren reciprocated eagerly. Dinah pulled away. “So my tigress, are we going to stop being assholes to each other in the hallway?”

“Depends my lioness,” Lauren mumbled. “Will you take me out on a date tonight?”

“Fuck yeah I will.” She grinned and pulled Lauren down next to her, wrapping her arms around her and cuddling her close to her. She could definitely get used to this.


End file.
